According to reports, “Crossroads” by Beeple was purchased on November 1, for $66,666.60 by a user identified as Pablo. Interestingly, the new user offered a whopping sum of $6.6 million to repurchase and stay anonymous.
Beeple, also known as Mike Winklemann, a Buzzy digital artist, has smashed the previous selling record of $1.5 million with his “Crossroads” project after its being resold for $6.6 million. According to reports, “Crossroads” by Beeple was purchased on November 1, for $66,666.60 by a user identified as Pablo. Interestingly, the new user offered a whopping sum of $6.6 million to repurchase and stay anonymous. This is said to be 100 times more than the original purchase amount. The record of the single NFT sale of Beeple’s project was held by a user identified as “CryptoPunk 6965” which according to reports sold for 800 ETH, equivalent to $1.55 million last week.
It is disclosed that the Crossroads project was largely influenced by the 2020 US presidential election. The project has rare creativity which projected one of the two animations that may depend on the results of the election. One of the animations portrayed a triumphant Trump, and the other portrayed a forgotten and despondent one.
The hard work and effort coupled with the creativity of digital art are highly appreciated by many, but a few people think the value of these pieces of art is exaggerated. Lark Davies, a Cryptocurrency Youtuber believes that the $6.6 million selling price of the artwork by Beeple shows NFT mania is heating up. He stated that the NFT selling price is an indication that “people have more money than sense”.
The artist behind the project is on the verge of making another history as the first-ever NFT to be sold in a traditional auction house. His work is being listed by Christie’s Inc in partnership with Makersplace, an NFT marketplace. This will end on March 11 in a two weeks program. The artist has over the last 14 years produced a little over 5000 unique images with one produced each day. Some of the themes include the Desire and Resentment of Wealth, Society Obsession with and Fear of Technology, and Turbulent Political Scenes in America. A piece titled “Everyday: the First 5000 Days” being auctioned for $100 has received about 120 bids with $2.2 million as the latest.
Digital artists are receiving increasing attention in recent times with the likes of Trevor Jones being the center of attraction. An edition art opened by Jones entitled “The Bitcoin Angel” was very patronized. He ended up selling 4157 editions in just 7 minutes. Selling each of them for $777, he made about $3.2 million.
Noah Davies, a Christie’s specialist in post-war and contemporary art leading the Beeple’s sale stated that as an organization, Christie’s is excited to see about $3.5 million appearing out of thin air. He explained that the world is seeing an era where different things excite the younger collectors. This could be a demographic shift, a generational shift, or a drastic shift.
Excellent John K. Kumi is a cryptocurrency and fintech enthusiast, operations manager of a fintech platform, writer, researcher, and a huge fan of creative writing. With an Economics background, he finds much interest in the invisible factors that causes price change in anything measured with valuation. He has been in the crypto/blockchain space in the last five (5) years. He mostly watches football highlights and movies in his free time.
